Reba Porter has been helping individuals work toward sobriety through group therapy since 2005. / EMILY McMANAMY, Free Press

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Katy Petiford, Free Press Correspondent

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Reba Porter has been helping individuals work toward sobriety through group therapy since 2005.

Porter has worked at Fletcher Allen Health Care and at the Lund Family Center conducting group therapy sessions. She has been working as an intensive substance abuse treatment program clinician at the Phoenix Houses of New England for the past year.

“I really enjoy watching people grow and develop the skills that they need to live a safer happier healthier life,” Porter said.

She knew from an early age that she wanted to work in mental health. Porter’s family history is part of what originally drew her to the field, but helping others is what keeps her going.

“There was a history of mental health problems in my family as well as substance abuse problems,” Porter said. “I wanted to be able to help other people struggling with those types of issues.”

While earning her masters of science degree at Southern New Hampshire University, she focused on combining her studies of mental health with substance abuse disorders.

Having an education that combined the two topics helped Porter gain a deeper understanding of how to help patients who were suffering from both issues, she said.

The state of Vermont funded part of Porter’s education to show their support in Porter’s studies. The state was particularly interested in supporting students who wanted to provide help to patients who needed support in both mental health and substance abuse.

Now, working at the Phoenix House, Porter provides four and a half hours of therapy, three times a week to group of six to eight people.

She uses a program called Seeking Safety to guide patients through the recovery process. Seeking Safety is a form of therapy that helps people find safety from substance abuse, according to the company’s website.

Some of the topics covered include how to have others support someone going through recovery, how to build healthy relationships, time management skills and how to use various resources in the community, the website stated.

“The main goal of all the work that I do is relapse prevention,” Porter said. “Abstinence-based recovery.”

However, it’s not always an easy goal to reach.

“Not everyone who shows up is not really thrilled to be there,” she said. “But often, over the course of treatment, you see people open up and get interested in sobriety.”

And once one person begins to discuss his or her own experiences, others in the group begin to feel comfortable sharing as well. And watching patients help other patients is one of Porter’s favorite parts of her job.

“I like watching people help each other,” she said. “There’s a lot more value in peers offering support to each other than getting it from a so called ‘expert.’”